In Windows 8, Microsoft gave its desktop file-management utility a new name (it’s now File Explorer instead of Windows Explorer) and added an Office-style ribbon. Windows 8.1 makes even more changes to File Explorer.This is the navigation bar on the left side of File Explorer. In place of the Computer node is a new link titled This PC. Under that link you’ll find shortcuts to the data folders in your user profile, as well as to local drives. SkyDrive gets its own top-level link as well.The Libraries node is gone from the navigation pane, and the default libraries aren’t created when you set up a new user profile, although you can create custom libraries if you want.

Input changes

If you use Windows 8 on a touchscreen device or a tablet PC, the Touch Keyboard will look essentially unchanged in Windows 8.1, but in reality it has two significant improvements.

First, it’s backed by an autosuggest service that’s updated continually by an online service. In addition to suggesting words that match the one you’re typing, the new feature also tries to predict the next word you’ll type. And it’s surprisingly accurate, using a linguistic model to help narrow down the list of words you’re likely to type next. Microsoft claims the new feature is 90 percent accurate. We’ll want to put that to the test.There’s also a new gesture for power users who want to use autosuggest but don’t want to take their fingers off the onscreen keyboard. A quick swipe of the spacebar moves through the autosuggest list so you can select and insert an item.

Internet Explorer 11

There are quite a lot of changes in Internet Explorer 11, which will be included with Windows 8.1. The most notable new features are in the Metro version of IE and address some of the criticisms of IE 10 in Windows 8.Tabs have moved to the bottom of the screen, just above the Internet Explorer address bar. And you’re no longer limited to 10 tabs. You can have an infinite number of open tabs, with the row of tabs scrolling horizontally. And your tabs roam across devices, so you can pick up on your tablet where you left off on your desktop, or vice versa.In addition, you now have full access to your collection of Favorites, with the ability to add items to the Favorites list from the Metro-style browser.

The new snap view

The new snap view in Windows 8.1 sounds perfect. It will let you resize snap view panes to be the size that makes the most sense for the task at hand. You can make both panes split the entire display if you wish, or drag either to share the screen any way you wish. Just as impressive, the new snap view is reported to allow pinning up to four apps on the screen at once.

App auto updates

Now Windows 8.1 will automatically update apps in the background. I won't have to remember to check the Windows Store live tile to see if some apps have updates, and then manually go in and apply them. Windows 8.1 will check periodically in the background and apply any app updates that are needed.

Expansion of the Metro interface

In Windows 8 some settings are in the nice touch-friendly interface in Metro and the rest over on the legacy desktop. In Windows 8.1 most all settings will reside in the Metro interface, accessible in one place.